Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Nonkilling

Nonkilling is emerging as a new field of academic
exploration.

Scholars of nonkilling argue that humans are not hardwired
to kill. These scholars rightly contend, in my estimation, that killing is
learned behavior. For a detailed biological argument in support of this view,
cf. Piero Giorgi’s book The origins of violence by cultural evolution available as a free download by following this
link.

This view does require rethinking the traditional understanding
of Genesis 3 in which the first humans commit sin that results in God expelling
them from the utopian Garden of Eden. The traditional position envisions a God
incompatible with a twenty-first scientific worldview in which God is clearly
not a deified human. The traditional view of de-evolving is also incompatible
with evolutionary theory. Rabbi Harold Kushner helpfully has suggested interpreting
Genesis 3 in terms of humans first experiencing freedom, an essential element
of the image of God in humans and a vital step in evolutionary processes. This
view is also one that resonates with Giorgi.

The definition of nonkilling and an outline of its
feasibility as a political project was first articulated by Glenn Paige, a
scholar at the University of Hawaii. His seminal book, Nonkilling Global
Political Science, is available for free at this link.

Paige distinguishes between negative and positive peace.
Negative peace is the absence of warfare and the definition of peace most
commonly utilized. Positive peace is the well-being and flourishing of life, a definition
congruent with both the Hebrew shalom and the Greek eirene, the
two words that the Bible uses for peace.

Nonkilling is an academic discipline and way of life to
which those who walk the Jesus path should commit themselves. When Jesus said, “Blessed
are the peacemakers,” I do not believe that he spoke only of those who brought
an end to war (although this is truly valuable) nor to those who found an inner
peace. Jesus called all of his followers to live into the fullness of peace, of
which the practice of nonkilling is an indispensable component.